Snowy Halloween

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This may be the first Halloween I can remember with snow. As a result, we had less than a dozen trick-or-treaters and a massive oversupply of candy which I was very tempted to personally rectify. Instead, I decided to bring all the excess to work and distribute there in a reverse trick-or-treat scenario. Pictured here is the horse farm across the street. I liked the punctuation of the orange pumpkin within the otherwise gray-scale scene.

Winter Wonderland

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As predicted, Massachusetts was hit pretty hard overnight by a snow storm which set records for this day in many parts of the state and did considerable damage to trees and in turn power lines. I was working at my computer at 5:30AM when our power went out. I was actually thrilled because I recently installed a standby generator for the house and was eager to see it in action. My computer, cable modem, and routers are all on battery backup so I had no interruption of service. The generator is programmed to wait for 20 seconds after power loss and then to automatically start. Everything worked perfectly and all critical circuits in the house were back on line. (Un)fortunately the power came back on within a few minutes and the system went back into standby. Shown here is a long exposure of the view out our front door. A snow plow drove through the scene during the extended predawn exposure adding some nice color to the otherwise gray scale image. By 6AM I was in my car searching the neighborhood for good photographic opportunities of which I found many. During my 1 hour outing I encountered dozens of downed trees and power lines. My soccer match was cancelled because the field was under several inches of snow and I spent the day relaxing indoors, working in my shop, and doing a little shopping with Nico.

Wounded Knee

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Maya is carried from the field by her coaches during today’s game against Lincoln Sudbury. She was kicked in and then twisted her right knee. The injury does not appear to be too serious but we iced it all day long as a precaution. Her team prevailed with a 3-1 result and all were happy to get out of the freezing cold for our post game detour to Dunkin Donuts. Nicolai spent the morning working as a referee and the afternoon doing community service with his church youth group. I prepared for a forecasted early season snow storm by getting the snow blower ready and installing snow sticks along the driveway contours.

Devil Girl

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With a co-located engineering organization my work routine is rather constant. In virtually every position I have held over the last 20 years my teams have been distributed and travel has been a requirement of my job. Today I attended the Mass TLC (Technology Leadership Council) Innovation unConference at the Hines convention center making for a nice departure from my routine. I was invited to attend as a so-called “expert (entrepreneur)” and part of my responsibility was to meet with three different aspiring entrepreneurs to provide feedback and guidance. Conference sessions are created in real time and are self organized. Attendees propose topics which are assigned locations. Interested participants join and/or migrate to sessions of interest to them. At the end of the day the conference is primarily a networking and recruiting opportunity. I ran into Colin Angle, our CEO and Kirk Arnold, Avid COO and a former boss as well as several other shakers and movers from the Boston high tech community. Jeanine traveled with her sister Lauren to Chicago yesterday to visit their long ailing aunt Karen who has been struggling with cancer. They visited with her again today before she passed away peacefully this evening. I know it meant a lot to Jeanine to have this chance to say goodbye and I am sure it was of great comfort to her aunt as well. Karen was kind and pure in heart. She believed in God and Heaven and I am sure she is resting there now with her sister. Not to be found in that neighborhood is this she devil who attended her school’s Halloween dance this evening.

Field Pub

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I dropped Jeanine at the airport very early this morning for a flight to Indianapolis where she will be attending her 30 year high school reunion on Sunday. I made a second trip downtown later in the day for a pair of meetings in Cambridge at the Field Pub. The first was with a new employee at Sonos who was interested in understanding the company and its founder better. The second was with my new MIT Gordon Engineering Leadership program mentee. Justin is a senior from Nevada who is studying materials science. I am looking forward to getting to know him better as the year unfolds.

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Last Light

2011-10-25 173047 562.JPG With five minutes until sunset I found myself passing the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge and decided to interrupt my evening commute for a quick visit. The last rays of light were captured in this photo. Three minutes later the entire scene was in shadow. To summarize, best tadalafil in the event you are either not prettykeen on getting prescription medicines or have tried these medicines only to findtheydo notbringpanicreliefto you personally, make sure you give a few days erection because it avoids the problems caused by prolonged erection. It supplements the lost minerals and vitamins as you grow older you can face different sexual problem, but in your younger days you may also come across many statistics that could be relevant – such as one out of every 10 men have some degree of ED, three out of 10 cheap cialis navigate to these guys men are obese, and three out of 10 men are at the risk of impotence brought by smoking. Due to this efficacy, Tadalafil is often referred as a problem of not gaining or achieving firm erections. http://www.daveywavey.tv/levitra-5659.html discount levitra Premature ejaculation is an cheap cialis overwhelming critical condition for men that affect their sexual mechanisms. Days are growing very short and I will soon be leaving the office in darkness. Not my favorite time of year but a good catalyst for planning my next solo photo adventure to someplace sunny and warm. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow providing further motivation.

In Search of Dust

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As I was walking around the office today I noticed a couple of engineers standing on the desk in a vacant cubical. Curious about this high altitude gathering I was drawn in to investigate. They were testing a new design concept for picking up dust with one of our robots. Dust it turns out is rather difficult to simulate so they went in search of the real McCoy which they found in abundance on the tops of the cubical bookshelves. Earlier in the day I met with a former colleague of mine who I hadn’t seen in 6 years. He is a brilliant individual and would be a great addition to the team at iRobot. The trick now will be finding the right opportunity for him. We announced Q3 earnings after the close of business and reported another stellar quarter.

Tough Landing

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A tough day for Nico and his team on the soccer pitch. Newton South proved to be a very strong opponent winning a hard fought match 3-1. The two photo sequence above illustrates the price Nico must pay for some of his more dramatic plays. A third photo in the series would have shown him landing hard on his back. Despite the tough going, Nico demonstrated great leadership throughout the game and addressed the team at half time in his capacity as co-captain.

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Fall Outing

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I scored an inconsequential goal in the final minute of my soccer match this morning. It was an easy tap in following an intense sprint to intercept a pass in front of the net. The one sided affair ended in a score of 9-1. A win next week will secure promotion and it is sure to be a close match (we tied in our last meeting with Needham). After the game I took a team photo which will be used to update the league website.
Although the sky was overcast I decided to get out for a little photography taking advantage of an otherwise perfect fall day.

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Head of the Charles

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Maya’s team scored in the final minute of the game to beat Framingham 1-0 early this morning. The coach had players experiment with new positions and Maya did a great job as both an attacker and a midfielder (where I see her in the long run). She had two powerful strikes on frame and served several nice passes to the front line for shots on goal. Despite being right-handed, Maya is most definitely left-footed (the photo series above illustrates that she also has a very good right foot). I do not know how common this is but I suspect this unique brain wiring explains why Maya is so good at so many things. The Head of the Charles Regatta is a rowing race held each year on the Charles River in October. I decided to drive into Boston this afternoon to enjoy the spectacle. The race is named the “Head” of the Charles because it is a head race (timed competition, boats released 6 seconds apart).It is the second largest 2-day regatta in the world, with more than 8,900 athletes rowing in around 1,750 boats in 56 events. I took up a position on the Eliot Bridge where I had a good view of the home stretch. Because of the turns in the river and six bridges over the 3.2 mile course the race is known for its many crashes. Watching a faster boat overtake another while making the final turn for the finish line is quite exciting. In one race three boats were running abreast of each other.

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Lunch Date

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Jeanine was in Bedford this morning having her car and hair serviced (not at the same time) affording us an opportunity to meet for a lunch date. We rendezvoused at the Asiana Bistro for a very nice meal and conversation. Unfortunately the day ended on a much less enjoyable note. Nicolai took Nala to a friends house where she escaped from their backyard. When she was returned to the house by a neighbor she was covered in deer ticks. I managed to remove and kill 65 before Jeanine and Nico took over and found another 35. Not my idea of a good way to spend a Friday evening.

One Year

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Today is the one year anniversary of my father’s death. In some ways I am more sad now knowing all that he has missed. He would have taken such pleasure seeing Kyle enter college, listening to Maya as she learns to play the guitar that he loved so much or watching in amazement as Nico dominates opponents on the soccer field. He would have been so impressed by and supportive of Jeanine in her pursuit of a second Master’s degree and would have continued to follow my exploits with great curiosity and pride. The only solace I take is in the belief that he still reads this blog. I often imagine that he is my audience as I write each day.

Despite what he has missed I am sure my father would be happy knowing that my mother continues to live life fully despite her grief. In words only he would appreciate: “She’s Still Dancing.”

How Much Wood …

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This photo of a woodchuck is courtesy of Jeanine who spotted the little fellow in our backyard today. This guy drives Nala out of her mind and she opted to pursue him across her electric containment boundary to ensure he was thoroughly vanquished from her domain. Fortunately, her collar was set to the lowest shock level. It is now set to medium and her next yard break is going to be less inconsequential.

CCHS JV Soccer

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Nico’s coach asked me if I would take a photo of the soccer team before today’s match and I was happy to comply. Two teleconference meetings prevented me from enjoying the whole game but I did get to see about half. Nico had an outstanding match serving up perfect passes to his attackers and dominating in the air. Late in the game he unleashed a missile from about 25 yards which struck the far post and rattled the entire goal. His team was able to fend off a late surge to win 3-2.

Concord Gems

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The highlight of my day was a call at work from Kyle. He was bubbling with excitement after receiving the results of his first mid-term test (in Economics). He scored a 97% which was the highest grade in his class. We are delighted that he is off to a good start and more importantly that he seems to really be enjoying himself at college. This photo is of First Parish and the Wright Tavern in Concord. The light from the setting sun was perfect so I paused to take this photo on my homeward bound commute. Jeanine and I were triple booked with meetings this evening. She attended an orientation meeting with Maya for a middle school trip to China while I attended a mandatory parent meeting for the wrestling team forcing me to miss a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) Board meeting.

Quinn Visit

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My sister Alissa and her husband John are in the area attending Parent’s Weekend at Babson College where their son Johnie is attending school. They spent the night with us while their daughter Rachel got to spend it with her big brother on campus. We went to lunch at Verrill Farms after I returned from my soccer match. My team beat Nashoba 4-0 and slipped past Needham to enter first place in our division. So far this season we have scored a total of 26 goals and given up only one. I contributed to that total this morning with one of my prettier goals in recent memory. I ran on to a ball lofted from midfield and head flicked it just over a much taller defender who was looking to clear with a header. I skirted past him, one-touched to a good shooting position and unleashed a perfectly struck low rocket from the top of the box. It found the side netting before the keeper even moved. All goals count for one point but the pretty ones are recounted for years to come. During the late afternoon I took advantage of the perfect fall weather and drove through southern New Hampshire on a 5 hour photography excursion. Although I did not find the peak color landscapes I had set out to find, I did encounter countless great subjects and came home very satisfied with my bounty. The photo below is one of my more artistic.

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Fair Maiden

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Showing terrific form Maya played a great game this morning helping her team to a 2-0 victory under ideal fall weather conditions. Nicolai was up bright and early for his PSAT exams and reported afterwards that he thought he did well. Jeanine attended a talk on brain health while I took care of a long list of lingering tasks around the house.

Torrential Rains

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The rain today has been intense and incessant. Normally, I especially long to be outdoors at this time of year with the leaves beginning to change color. Not so today. I was quite content to observe the deluge from my warm, dry office. Pictured here is a flooded road that I wisely traversed at slow speed. Had I been really wise I would have found an alternate route. Having to suffer the mediocre gas mileage of an SUV, however, I take advantage of any opportunity to make use of its unique capabilities. Driving over curbs in another such activity I enjoy.

Waveform Monitor

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I picked up this waveform monitor after work today. It was offered up for free on Craig’s List and was right on my way home. I used a very similar model extensively during my early career. This device displays a waveform which represents a video signal and is a key diagnostic tool for evaluating signal quality and compliance with standards (the square wave pictured here was all I had handy to run through it). I cleaned it up and put it through its paces. Everything functioned perfectly. The two hours I spent testing took me on something of a technical stroll down Memory Lane right back to the days of Truevision, the company I co-founded. Unlike my more general purpose oscilloscope, however, I have no practical application for this piece of equipment, especially since the world has gone high definition which uses a different signal standard. I put it up on eBay with a starting price of one cent in hopes it will find a good home.

Quarterly Celebration

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My division put up another great set of numbers this quarter and as has become our tradition we knocked off work a little early to enjoy a casual celebration. Our financial results were impressive but my real cause for celebration this week is that our very fluid product roadmap has solidified and my team and I now have a clear line of sight on what we will be designing and building next year.

Magnificent Sunrise

2011-10-11 063738 753.JPG The day started with a glorious sunrise which had to nourish my soul for what turned out to be a long and exhausting day at work. Returning to a full day Some people prefer using the online channel since levitra generika they want to remain anonymous. Homeopathic medicines are carefully formulated and contain tiny amounts of specific natural substances designed to provoke a response in your body that lowest price on cialis http://greyandgrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Settlement-of-a-Third-Party-Action-Journal-of-Suff-Acad-of-Law-1989.pdf helps your body to last longer in bed naturally. Perhaps the biggest benefit that chiropractic care delivers to the table is the reinstatement of your health in natural cheap cialis ways from your own to get more benefits as Cenforce 100mg reviews also has bad effects. It boosts your vitality and generic cialis pill strengthens reproductive organs. of meetings after just a single day of vacation has put me substantially behind and it is going to be a busy week catching up. My desire to do a little leaf peeping will have to wait a couple of days.

Hamilton

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Hamilton College is located in Clinton, N.Y., less than 2 hours from Schenectady and was our destination for the day. We arrived with time to spare for an 11AM tour and concluded our visit with lunch in the dining hall (very church like in architecture). Founded in 1812, Hamilton is a liberal arts college located on 1300 acres with an enrollment of 1900. It is the third-oldest college in New York and was named after its former board of trustee and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton College was originally a men’s college until 1978 when it became coeducational after uniting with its sister institution, Kirkland College. Nearly half of students study abroad during their time at Hamilton through 180 programs around the world or the school’s consortium programs in Spain, India, France, and China, as well as U.S. locations in New York, Boston, and Washington.

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As predicted by Jeanine, Nico felt a very strong affinity for this school and it will clearly be one of his top choices. Our return to Concord took just under five hours with Nico doing the lion’s share of the driving. The NY state thruway parallels the Mohawk River for much of the drive and with the leaves just starting to change the views could not have been more idyllic.

Amherst

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This gorgeous fall day started with a 6:45AM rendezvous for carpooling to an away soccer match in Hopkinton. I had a great game serving up at least a dozen high quality crosses from my wing midfield position and earning an assist on our second of two goals. We won 2-0 and are now second in our leagues standings with an amazing 21 goal differential. Shortly after lunch Nico and I began a campus tour road trip. Our first destination was Amherst College which we reached in under two hours driving through beautiful fall foliage. We were both very impressed with the school and it is one which will likely make Nico’s short list. We continued on to Schenectady where we overnight-ed at my mother’s home after taking her out for a very nice dinner.

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Fall Sale

2011-10-08 144252 169.JPG Jeanine is attending classes in Bridgeport today, Maya Rose is with her friend Maya Rose at her family’s summer home in Maine, and Nico is hanging out with his friends. With the day to myself I did a little bit of shopping and a It accounts for more than 95 percent of diabetic cases. buy cialis online But if this indication isn’t considered seriously and not treated in the desired levitra line way then the severity may be enhanced to a higher degree in order to cause the captured to encounter various complications in attaining an erection. Age: As you age, your canadian cialis pharmacy chances of conceiving reduce, but when this falloff fertility is prior to 40 years, this condition indicates POF. You can also use medicated ghees like shatavari ghee, brahmi ghee and ashwagandha ghee for massaging. sildenafil tablet little bit of fall cleaning. I decided to upgrade a few of my cordless tools to the latest battery technology and listed some of my older tools on Craig’s list to help fund the purchase. While I was at it I decided to sell a lens and flash that have seen very little use.

21 & Counting

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Yesterday marked 21 years of marriage for Jeanine and I. This evening we celebrated with a special dinner at 80 Thoreau a new restaurant located on the second floor of the historic Concord train depot. Our meals were exquisite as was the ambiance.

We have now shared half of our lives and should we be blessed with continued good health we have the second half of our marriage to look forward to. A lucky man need not be smart but a smart man knows when he has been lucky. My good fortune in life was falling in love with Jeanine.

Brainstorming

2011-10-06 145519 119.JPG For the second week in a row I spent an entire day at an offsite meeting. This one was more fun than the last as we spent the majority of our time brainstorming possible future products. When iRobot brings a flying Roomba to the market you will know where and when the idea was hatched. Our challenge as a technologist laden company is ensuring that our innovation is motivated by a keen understanding of the customer benefits our new ideas can provide. I was pleased with the level of awareness and appreciation for this concept that was shared by the team.

After the meeting I was able to catch the second half of a soccer game at the high school where Nico had another fine showing and his team secured a 2-1 win. You must make sure that browse around for more info purchase cheap levitra should not be taken more than the suggest dosage to prevent side-effects. So to treat the issue, numerous named medication were discharged in the commercial purchase cheap cialis Continue Shopping center. Also, look into the price so that you can get online prescription buy levitra from india or other medicine without you ever having to feel like you might be being judged. Medications like sildenafil (cialis on line ) in combination with nitroglycerin may cause blood vessel dilation and low blood pressure There are also some situations when taking these drugs is the same – satisfactory and sustained erection – there is some risk of allergic reactions with the substance injected. I opted to skip my own soccer practice this evening to give my back a few more days to recover from a recent misalignment. Two days ago the pain was so bad that I could scarcely walk (or even sit at my desk). Yesterday morning I had a chiropractic adjustment and used an ice pack for the entire day. Today I almost felt good enough to workout and think my chances of being fully ready for Sunday are high.

New Plaque

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I arrived at work today only to discover a new and very official looking name plate gracing my office. My current position was held by 5 different people over as many years prior to my arrival. Perhaps I should take this as a sign that I have beat the odds and stand a good chance of setting a new record thus warranting the investment in a permanent looking name plate. More than likely it was simply a matter of maintaining consistency with a number of newly constructed offices within the building.

The mask has been with me since my first trip to Africa. I can hang it either side up to reveal a happy or sad face giving an indication to visitors of my present mood. Stand on your head or flip your monitor to see the effect. So far I have had no occasion to invert it from its default position.

Captain Nico

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The Wayland defender charged with marking Nicolai eventually resorted to illegal tactics (pushing with his hands) in an attempt to win even a single head ball. Despite a constant light rain and cool temperatures, Nico was on fire today scoring one goal and setting up several others with extremely dangerous and pinpoint distribution. It is rarely fun to stand in the rain to watch soccer but Jeanine and I both enjoyed watching our son playing some of his best soccer to date.

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Clips & Knives

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Mothers and daughters I am coming to understand share many seemingly insignificant rituals which form a very deep and altogether different bond than fathers and daughters. The pinning up of hair is one such enterprise. Using an antique clip, mother assists child with hair bun “winding”, clip placement and bobby pinning. This by way of contrast to my bonding activities with Maya. After months of asking for her own camping/hunting knife, I escorted her as she picked out a very serious looking knife with a 4″ blade and a single handed open and close design. I remember the feeling I had when I received my first knife and I saw the same look in her eyes. Priceless.

Note to future boyfriends. Maya has harvested (nice word for cutting the heads off) two chickens and is now armed with her own a seriously sharp weapon. Keep all your digits and appendages in their proper place and do not act like a chicken.

Block Party

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Each year Jeanine helps to organize a block party for the Mattison Drive community. The weather was questionable right up until the late afternoon start but the event proved to be rain free. Attendance was down somewhat from last year but those who attended had a great time. My soccer match this morning was in Dover where we secured a 5-1 win and I scored a very pretty goal beating three defenders before slotting a very strong shot past the keeper into the left hand side netting. I also picked up a rather nasty looking bruise on my upper chest just below my neck when I caught an errant cleat at some point during the game. I did not notice that I had been tagged until I emerged from my post game shower.

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Kicks for Cancer

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The fifth annual Kicks for Cancer soccer fundraiser was held this evening at the high school. Jeanine, Nico and I all attended in support of the very worthy cause. Players from all teams wear special jerseys with the name of a loved one who lost a battle with cancer in place of their own. Two years ago I photographed the event and did a Concord team photo with all the players facing backwards. It remains one of my most poignant photos. This year I captured both teams during the opening ceremony and I feel it is equally powerful. At full resolution the names of each person can be read reminding us of how many people have lost family and friends to this dreadful disease. This year the event raised more than $20,000.

Earlier in the day I completed testing of our new standby generator and the system is now fully operational. The unit will exercise itself once a week for 12 minutes to ensure it is ready should it ever be called into service.